Like the Plot of an Icha Icha Romance
by Drop of the Sweetest Poison
Summary: Kakashi/Iruka. Fearing the consequences of becoming an inactive shinobi, Iruka decides to accept low-ranked missions. However, when Kakashi starts taking a special interest in him, he begins to worry. What he doesn't know is... Continued inside. Yaoi.
1. Iruka's Deal, Kakashi's Revenge!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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_Title_: Like the Plot of an Icha Icha Romance

_Summary_: Kakashi/Iruka. Fearing the consequences of becoming an inactive shinobi, Iruka decides to accept low-ranked missions. However, when Kakashi starts taking a special interest in him, he begins to worry. What he doesn't know, though, is that this prank is part of a big plan formed by the perverted author himself, Jiraiya. Yaoi. R&R!

_Author Notes_: I haven't done any multi-chapter stories in a while, so I finally came up with one! I hope you enjoy it!

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**Chapter I: Iruka's Deal, Kakashi's Revenge!  
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Iruka tapped his fingers on his desktop and stared at a student that refused to cease talking. He wasn't sure that the pre-genin was even aware of the attention he had gained from his quiet conversation with the girl next to him. Finally, eyebrows twitching, Iruka announced, "Konohamaru-kun, is there something you would like to share with the entire class? I should think so. You're keeping the others from learning with your incessant whispering."

Konohamaru froze, glancing sideways at his teacher with the classic deer-caught-in-headlights-look. "N–No, Iruka-sensei. It's n–nothing..."

"No, no," Iruka smiled brightly, eyes curling, "please, share with us!"

Konohamaru stared at his teacher's disarming smile, wary. "Well, I was just telling Moegi-chan that I was going to eat ramen with Naruto-sama after school..."

Iruka folded his hands on his desk and leveled the student with a stern look. "Konohamaru-kun, that is no excuse to interrupt the class. If it was something really important, I would wave it off. However, this is the fifth time this week you've interrupted. I'm afraid I will have to do something about you."

The brown-haired boy gaped. "I–Iruka-sensei... you don't mean that! I promise I'll be good!"

"That sounds very familiar," Iruka drawled. "I recall you saying those exact words the last four times, as well." His hands molded into a hand-sign, and he muttered, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu." Another Iruka appeared in a burst of smoke beside him.

With an equally stern look, the shadow clone crossed his arms and scanned the class.

Iruka stood from his desk and motioned for Konohamaru to follow him. "My shadow clone will be here supervising you all, so don't think that just because a mere copy of myself is watching you, you will be able to misbehave. There _will_ be dire consequences if I come back and you are all out of place." With that, he and an anxious Konohamaru exited the room, and the shadow clone took his place behind the desk.

* * *

"Iruka-sensei, I'm really sorry..."

"That's the tenth time you've said that," Iruka commented with amusement. "Relax, Konohamaru-kun. I'm not going to take you behind the school and murder you for interrupting class."

Konohamaru shuddered at the thought. "I should hope not! Boss will need me to cheer him on tomorrow afternoon!"

"Cheer him on for what?"

"He's going to race Sasuke-sama at eating ramen! It'll be great!"

Iruka shook his head. "Always trying to out-do Sasuke-kun. I swear that boy will never give up." Despite his words, a warm smile graced his features.

"I'll say! It's quite admirable if I do say so myself! I wanna be just like him when I grow up!"

Iruka turned a corner with the pre-genin trailing after him. On the way, he was thinking about what he should do with the boy. "Konohamaru-kun, I have decided that since you cannot concentrate enough in my class, I am sending you to Kakashi-sensei's team for the day so you may resume your studies there."

Konohamaru grinned. "That's Boss's sensei, right?"

"Yeah. Hopefully Kakashi-sensei will accept you. If he doesn't, I'll have to let you go free, which is something I really hope doesn't happen."

Konohamaru rubbed his hands together. "This is great... I can arrange the finances beforehand with Sakura-san..."

"'Finances'...?" Iruka arched an eyebrow. He and the student exited the Academy. They had been walking for nearly five minutes before the teacher realized what he was talking about. "Konohamaru-kun! Surely you don't expect to bet on the contest, do you?"

"Well, duh!" The brown-haired boy rolled his eyes. "How could I not? I'm gonna have 1,000¥ on Boss! If he wins, I'll triple the amount! Well, that's what Sakura-san said anyways."

Iruka slapped a hand to his forehead. "That's not the point. You shouldn't gamble." Because he mumbled, Konohamaru didn't hear him.

"Oh, there they are!" Konohamaru shouted, racing ahead of his teacher to the training grounds. Ahead of him, pink, orange, and dark blue blotches were visible.

Iruka stuffed his hands into his pockets and increased his pace to catch up with his student. He glanced around, wondering where Kakashi was. Once he and Konohamaru reached his ex-students, Iruka found himself—air knocked out of his lungs—on the ground with an ecstatic Naruto on top of him.

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto nuzzled his face into the chuunin's vest and laughed boisterously. "You've come to take me away from here and treat me to ramen, right?"

"Actually, Naruto-kun, I'm not here for that," Iruka patted his head with a frown. "I'm here to ask Kakashi-sensei a favor. Where is he?"

As Naruto opened his mouth to answer, he was greeted by Konohamaru.

"Hey, Boss! I hope you're getting ready for the contest between you and Sasuke-sama! You're gonna beat him for sure! No one can eat more ramen than you can!"

Naruto grinned smugly and winked. "Believe it! I'm the ramen-eating champion! Sasuke-teme will never win!"

Sasuke crossed his arms from his seated position under a tree and scoffed, "Don't be so sure, Naruto-baka."

"Nobody asked you!" Naruto shot back with a glare. After a mere second, his grin returned, and he blinked down at the disgruntled Iruka under him. "Oh, and Kakashi-sensei is being lazy up the tree," Naruto waved his hand in the direction of the tree Sasuke was seated under.

Iruka nodded and pushed Naruto off of himself gently, rising to his feet. He absentmindedly brushed some dirt from his vest and made his way to the tree, waving at Sakura on the way. He beamed down at Sasuke before raising his eyes to the leaves. "Kakashi-sensei?"

Light snoring answered him.

Iruka furrowed his brow, giving Sasuke a questioning look.

Sasuke shrugged. "He's lazy."

"I see... But, isn't he supposed to be training you?"

"We train ourselves."

Iruka stared, wide-eyed. "You can't be serious."

Another shrug.

With more determination, Iruka returned his attention to the sleeping jounin. "Kakashi-sensei! Please, wake up! I need to ask a favor from you!"

"Just go up there, and wake him yourself," Sasuke suggested, twirling a kunai. He picked up a rock and began sharpening the blade.

Iruka sighed and leaped up onto the branch above him, glaring at Kakashi, whose face was covered by an opened, bright orange book. "Kakashi-sensei, don't make me do this."

Kakashi remained still, snoring quietly.

Iruka rubbed at his scar with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Okay, you asked for it!" With a great shove, he knocked Kakashi out of the tree.

Kakashi awoke as wind rushed past him. His eyes widened when he realized that he was falling and quickly twirled around to land on his feet, catching his precious book in mid-air. He glanced around, disoriented. "Who did it?"

Iruka landed next to him gracefully. "I did. Kakashi-sensei, it's very irresponsible practice to fall asleep when you're _supposed_ to be watching over your team."

Kakashi arched a silver eyebrow at Iruka. "Where'd you come from?"

"That doesn't matter! I need to ask you for a favor!"

Kakashi slouched and opened his book, clearly uninterested. "What is it?"

Iruka gave the book a disapproving look before asking, "Can you watch over Konohamaru-kun for the day?"

"Who?"

Iruka motioned to the tiny, brown-haired pre-genin in the process of bargaining with Sakura. "He can't seem to concentrate in my class very well. Naruto-kun is on his mind too much. I was hoping that he could spend the day with him and get his fill."

"Can't handle your class? Surely an _experienced_ teacher such as yourself wouldn't have any problems handling a single disruptive student with an unhealthly obsession with Naruto-kun."

An embarrassed blush spread over Iruka's cheeks. "This is the fifth time."

"_See_? Just my point."

Iruka puffed his cheeks out and glared. "Kakashi-sensei, please?" His politeness was strained.

"I suppose, Iruka-sensei." After a moment, Kakashi added, "But you don't expect me to do this for free, right? I don't want to babysit another brat for nothing."

Iruka eyed him warily. "What... do you want?"

Kakashi tapped a finger to his mask-clad jaw in thought. "Write my mission reports for me."

"How many?" Iruka blinked.

"Until _I_ decide to write one," Kakashi winked.

Iruka worriedly noted the sun's position and nodded weakly. "Fine. Deal. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class waiting."

"Bye, Iruka-sensei!" Sakura, Naruto, and Konohamaru chirped while Sasuke nodded in acknowledgment.

* * *

Iruka wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and slumped in his seat. 'Maybe I shouldn't have taken so long to deliver Konohamaru-kun to Kakashi-sensei. I'm drained of most of my chakra.' Glancing at the time, Iruka declared, "You may go home now. I expect a paragraph on the first five rules of shinobi conduct on Monday."

After his class had filtered out, Iruka hurriedly gathered his papers and sprinted to the Hokage Tower. He still had mission desk duty until nine o'clock that night.

Once he had arrived, he collapsed in his seat and set his papers to the side, waiting patiently for genin, chuunin, and jounin to form a line in front of him.

He smiled at the battered jounin and accepted his report. "A-rank? Well done, Jounin-sama. Konohagakure appreciates your hard work."

The jounin forced a smile that was quickly replaced with a grimace of pain.

"Now, off to the hospital for you. You might want to have some medics take a look at those cuts of yours," Iruka commanded with concern.

The jounin nodded and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Iruka turned his attention to the next person.

* * *

Finally, a few hours later, it was nearing closing time.

Iruka was exhausted. He didn't think he'd make it home without real effort. His head fell, and he stared at the quizzes he was grading.

A finger tapped on the mission desk.

Iruka's eyes shot up. "I'm sorry, I—" He raised a questioning eyebrow at the sight of the Copy-nin. "Kakashi-sensei? What are you doing here? I don't recall your team having a mission today..."

"Ah, but I did," Kakashi's eye curled with his smile. "You gave me one."

"I did?" Iruka didn't remember ever giving Kakashi a task that day. "I think you're mistaken."

"You gave me that little..." Kakashi fought for a word to describe Konohamaru with a shudder. "..._monster_. That could count as a B-ranked mission."

"Kakashi-sensei, that wasn't a mission assigned by the Hokage," Iruka furrowed his brow in annoyance. "Please leave. The mission desk is closing now, and I would like to go home."

"Oh, no, no, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi held up a hand, commanding silence. "Perhaps you don't understand. If you don't write the mission report for this so I can receive my pay, I will enlighten the Hokage about your... habits."

"'Habits'?" Iruka glared, sensing the bite to Kakashi's tone. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You think that teachers are allowed to just dump one of their students on another teacher who's already busy with his own team?" Kakashi asked incredulously.

Iruka winced. "Erm... No, I don't think so—"

"Absolutely not. Teachers take care of their _own_ students because it's _their_ job, and _they're_ being paid for it."

Iruka rubbed the scar on his nose with a frustrated sigh. "I understand, Kakashi-sensei. I'll start on your mission report tomorrow."

"No, it's due today. Mission reports are always due the day of mission completion."

Iruka's eyes flashed angrily at that. "You're one to talk! You've never cared about that in the past! Time means _nothing_ to you! Do you know how many times I've been forced to pursue you for your mission reports? I always end up never finding you, and I have to get the details of the mission from one of your genin so I can properly write the report! If I don't, your team doesn't get its pay!"

Kakashi hummed in approval. "So that's why I've always gotten paid for those missions."

Iruka growled quietly and shoved his papers to the side. He retrieved a blank scroll from a drawer in the desk.

"Everything seems to be in order so I'll just be going. Bye," Kakashi waved cheerfully, preparing to flash through a series of hand-signs.

"Wait!" Iruka jumped out of his chair. "You're supposed to stay here and tell me the details of your mission! You can't leave!"

Kakashi paused. "I don't believe that was part of the deal. You should learn to be more specific." With a mocking wave and eye curl, Kakashi disappeared in a flash of smoke.

Iruka groaned and fell back into his chair, grudgingly picking up his pen. 'Why did I ever agree to that? This is going to take an hour!'

* * *

The next morning, Iruka awoke to the sound of chirping birds and sun warming his skin. He groaned, shielding his eyes from the relentless rays. "What time is it?" He wondered aloud, his voice groggy. He turned his gaze to his alarm clock, reading the time. "Oh, good. Only 9:23."

He yawned and tumbled out of bed, stretching his cramped limbs. He gave his bed a sour look. "I need a new mattress or something. My back is aching way too much."

After he had finished his morning routine, he exited his apartment and made his way to the Hokage Tower. Once he had settled himself behind the mission desk, he was confronted by Genma.

"The Hokage says that you haven't done any missions lately," Genma informed him, twirling his senbon with his tongue. "You risk becoming an inactive shinobi."

Iruka's eyes widened. "Oh, no! I completely forgot!"

Genma rolled his eyes and sent a pointed look to the stack of mission reports. "Shouldn't it be obvious that you need to do a mission every once in a while? After all, you _do _work at the mission desk."

Iruka blushed. "Y–Yes, I do realize that now."

Genma bit down on his senbon and averted his eyes. "Well, bye." Without waiting for a response, Genma spun on his heel and left the room, passing a silver-haired jounin on the way.

Kakashi arched an eyebrow and turned his attention to Iruka, who was smacking his head on the desk, grumbling to himself. "Iruka-sensei, I don't believe that is a very wise thing to do."

Iruka let out a groan and raised his eyes to the Copy-nin. "Good morning, Kakashi-sensei..."

"Yo," Kakashi greeted, his orange book open in one hand. "Did you ever finish that report?"

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," Iruka sighed. To himself, he muttered, "It only took me an hour and a half past closing time to finish it."

Kakashi frowned, as he had heard Iruka's quiet muse. "I see."

"Is that all?"

Kakashi shook his head and gestured behind himself. "I couldn't help but overhear your little problem. Inactive shinobi, eh?"

"Ugh. Don't remind me. I'll just have to try to do a D-rank mission in my spare time today. I was actually planning on going to watch Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun compete today, but—" Iruka broke off, realizing that he was telling Kakashi, someone who really wouldn't care, his plans for the day. "I suppose I can do the mission during that time."

Kakashi made a noise of disapproval. "That's not the right thing to do. Naruto-kun was ranting on about how you would be there to see him beat Sasuke-kun."

Iruka grimaced. "Ah, yeah. I guess I couldn't miss that."

"I think I know just the thing to do about your little problem, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi smiled, eye curling. "I have some friends who have small tasks that can count as D-ranked missions. They will take only a moment to complete, and you'll be free for the rest of the day."

Iruka perked up at that and grinned up at Kakashi hopefully. "That's great! Thank you, Kakashi-sensei!" He bowed his head slightly, grin never wavering.

Kakashi gave him a lazy smile. "Don't worry. They'll contact you with the details."

"That's perfect," Iruka sighed happily. "Now I won't have to miss the contest."

"Well, have a wonderful morning."

"You too!" Iruka waved as the jounin disappeared. He couldn't stop beaming. His respect for the Copy-nin had sky-rocketed.

* * *

With lightning-fast speed, Kakashi flashed through the village, handing out flyers while announcing, "Obedient chuunin! He'll do any task you'll give him because he's facing being marked as inactive!"

Several people stopped him for questions.

"What do you mean 'any task'? Like," one man's eyes lit up, "rubbing feet or something?"

"Will he take over my baby-sitting?" A teen-aged girl gushed. "I can go to the movies with my friends!"

"Can he be..." one female lowered her voice, "... a _sex-slave_?"

With barely-contained laughter, Kakashi nodded enthusiastically to all of them. "He'll even be a part-time house-maid if you want!"

Kakashi watched with sadistic glee as people raced to the Hokage Tower to ambush the "obedient chuunin." A part of him felt guilty for abusing Iruka's trust, but he was still peeved from the school teacher forcing the pre-genin boy on him.

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	2. Iruka's Big Problem! Scheming Jiraiya!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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_Title_: Like the Plot of an Icha Icha Romance

_Summary_: Kakashi/Iruka. Fearing the consequences of becoming an inactive shinobi, Iruka decides to accept low-ranked missions. However, when Kakashi starts taking a special interest in him, he begins to worry. What he doesn't know, though, is that this prank is part of a big plan formed by the perverted author himself, Jiraiya. Yaoi. R&R!

_Author Notes_: I'm sorry for the terribly long wait! I had to rethink the plot for this a little bit and gain some inspiration! As you can see, the title and summary have both changed! I hope you enjoy, and thanks to all of you who reviewed!

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**Chapter II: Iruka's Big Problem! Scheming Jiraiya!  
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"Woah! Civilian mob _incoming_!"

Within a few seconds, the entire mission room was cleared out of everyone on duty except Iruka, who was struggling to find his hair tie under the desk.

Iruka's fingers closed on the hair accessory, and he stood up, one hand holding his unbound ponytail in place. He was instantly assaulted by numerous shouts and the sight of the mission room filled with excited civilians. He dropped his ponytail to hold out his hands in defense. Weakly, he raised his voice to announce, "E–Everyone, please form an orderly line in front of the mission desk! I'll handle any complaints, suggestions, or questions you may have!"

It went silent.

"Is this the 'obedient chuunin'?" One woman whispered to another.

The woman who came with the crowd to request a sex slave licked her lips and grinned at him. "Oh, I hope so. He's _cute_."

Iruka vaguely noticed from the corner of his eye that Kakashi had settled on one of the window's sills, nose buried in his book.

A man held up a flyer and waved it at Iruka. "Are you... 'Umino Iruka'?"

Iruka went pale. "Erm... Y–Yes, I am. W–Why...?"

The noise started up again, and people fought to get to the front of the line.

"I need you to do my gardening!"

"I need you to rub my feet!"

"I need you to clean my house!"

"I need you to be my sex slave! I have money! _Please_?"

"I need a husband! _Marry me_!"

Kakashi snickered to himself, raising his gaze briefly to catch the look of despair on the chuunin's face. He then noticed his hair was down. With a tilt of his head, Kakashi decided he liked it.

Iruka tugged on his hair in agitation. 'Are these the _few _friends Kakashi was talking about? I knew I couldn't trust him! I knew it!'

Noting the crowd's restlessness and the beginnings of violence stirring up, Kakashi decided that it was nearing his time to intervene. Tucking his precious book in his weapon pouch, Kakashi crouched on the sill and waited patiently.

Iruka flailed his arms at the crowd, desperately calling, "Please form an _orderly_ line and... and... _Wait_!_ Don't throw that_! No! Hey, you, please don't—Oh, my, are you _okay_?" He narrowly dodged a potted plant that smashed against the wall behind him. He cried out when his chair was suddenly picked up. Tumbling off of it, he watched in horror as the chair was thrown into the crowd of struggling, furious people. He backed away from the violence and fell against something hard.

"Well, well, Iruka-sensei. It seems that you've created quite a stir here."

Iruka spun around when he realized that the wall he had taken refuge against was speaking to him. His eyes landed on the shock of silver hair, and he bowed his head in apology. "Y–Yes..."

"Need help?" Kakashi smiled, eye curling.

"Yes, please!" Iruka nearly hugged him in relief. "I can't stay here! These people are going to tear each other apart!"

Kakashi nodded, flicking his one-eyed gaze to the ruins of the mission room before motioning for Iruka to follow him to the window. "Hop on."

Iruka's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" He wasn't quite sure he had heard that right through the noise of the fight breaking out behind him. However, Kakashi offering his back to the chuunin affirmed that yes, the Copy-nin wanted him to get on his back.

"Kakashi-sensei, I think I can jump out of a window myself—_KAKASHI-SENSEI!_"

The Copy-nin threw the school teacher onto his back. He leered over his shoulder at Iruka. "Hold on tight."

Iruka barely had enough time to slid his legs around Kakashi's waist and wrap his arms around his neck before Kakashi leaped out of the window and up onto a nearby roof.

When Kakashi didn't stop there and let him go, Iruka began to worry just a little...

* * *

"What the _hell _is going on here?" Tsunade burst into the mission room with several ANBU guards. "Who are you people? Why are all of you _fighting?_ Where is my staff? _And_ w_here is my sake?_"

­"Hokage-sama! Help us!"

"We were promised someone to do all of our tasks, and nobody is here to take our requests!"

"We've been duped! Do something about it!"

"Oh, Kami..." Tsunade slapped a hand to her forehead. Tilting her head to the sky, she asked, "Why me? Aren't I a good Hokage? Don't I do good things for this village? Don't I keep us at peace with the rivaling countries?"

"What are you going to do about this, Hokage-sama?"

"Well, first tell me who it was."

"We don't know his name, actually..."

"A man in a mask? Gravity-defying silver shock of hair? Jounin?"

"Yeah, that's him!"

"Knew it," the Hokage sighed. She turned to her guards and commanded, "One of you go find the brat, and give him a little message from me."

* * *

"Kakashi-sensei! I think we should stop now! My legs are sore!"

Kakashi arched an eyebrow, sliding down a clothes line. "_Your_ legs are sore? You haven't done anything."

"What are you talking about? I've been trying to hold onto you for the last ten minutes while you decide to forgo the easy way to travel—on the street—and cavort and ricochet over buildings!"

"Hm." Kakashi waved that comment off and dove through a slim space between two buildings.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"What?"

"We're being followed..."

"Oh?" That grabbed Kakashi's attention. He glanced around before returning his eyes forward. He was confronted with the sight of a white mask. Letting out a quiet gasp, Kakashi froze in place.

"Hatake Kakashi, Hokage-sama has a message for you," the ANBU informed him. With a sigh, he waved an admonishing finger at Kakashi and scolded, "Bad jounin. _Bad_. You don't lie to the townspeople. And most importantly, you don't force poor, little chuunin into your schemes."

What surprised Kakashi the most was the slap he received.

"Oh, and Hokage-sama said for you to see her sometime today. That is all." With a nod of his head, the ANBU was gone.

The shocked Copy-nin was only vaguely aware of the barely-suppressed snickers of the chuunin on his back. All he could wonder was, 'How did she know it was me?'

"Kakashi-sensei." Iruka waved his hand in front of the jounin's face with worry. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Kakashi blinked.

"Well, since the ramen-eating contest is in a few hours, I'm going to go home and relax. I think my shift at the mission room is up for today..." Iruka trailed off, blinking at the tight hold Kakashi had on his legs. "Kakashi-sensei? You can let me go now. I can walk."

Kakashi shrugged, nearly throwing Iruka off balance and released his hold on the chuunin, feeling him awkwardly slid down to the ground.

With a mutter of, "Tall jounin..." Iruka flicked a piece of loose hair behind his ear. Frown tugging at his lips, Iruka continued, "Thanks for helping me with that. And I do know that all of that was your fault. That was taking advantage of my trust in you. I hope that I never have to see that side of you again," Iruka scolded. Noting the crest-fallen expression of the jounin, Iruka softened. With a small smile, he added, "And yet, I can't seem to stay angry with you. I forgive you, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi grinned victoriously.

"I'll see you around," Iruka nodded, turning to walk in the direction of his apartment.

* * *

"Did it work?"

Kakashi was brought out of his reverie and leaned his head back against the tree to see Jiraiya hanging upside down above him, peering owlishly down at him. "Mm... I don't think so. It only made him lose some trust in me."

"I know, I know, but that's the point! You're supposed to screw up and save him from all the trouble!" Jiraiya cackled. "He's the damsel in distress, and you're the noble hero!"

"Sounds like the plot of an _Icha Icha_..."

Jiraiya scowled to hide his shock. "Does not! This is totally original! I'm not doing this so I can have some motivation for my newest book! And certainly not with two guys as motivation!"

"Right. I believe you." Kakashi's eye curled with his smile as he continued, "I can't wait for the next book, by the way. The usual smut?"

Jiraiya sputtered. "What makes you think I'm writing a new book right now? I'm trying to help you get a lover!"

"And come up with the plot of your new book." Kakashi nodded. "Thanks for the offer, but I don't need a lover. I'm just happy to help you speed through the writing process. I don't mind what it's about. Just make the smut as good as always."

"Fine! You got me! I was out of motivation! The kid keeps me busy these days, y'know?" Jiraiya growled, threading a hand through his unruly white mane in agitation. "But never mind that! I don't care if you don't want a lover. You will be pretending to want him for the purposes of this entire plan."

"I suppose if I have to." Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. "So, what's your next move?"

"Oh, ho, ho! You're going to love it!" Jiraiya grinned lecherously. "Listen up, my pupil!"

* * *

Kakashi left the Hokage Tower with nothing more than a scolding and a spanking. Although, it could count more as a beating than anything from the fact that she could find nothing to properly do the job except for the sake bottle that was held loosely in her grasp. The silver-haired jounin absentmindedly rubbed his backside, which is what received most of the abuse.

Glancing up at the position of the sun, Kakashi noted that it was nearly time for the competition between Naruto and Sasuke—on most people's schedule. With a happy grin, Kakashi wondered what he could do with a few hours of his free time. After all, if Naruto was eating _ramen_ for a _competition_ against _Sasuke_, there's no way he'd stop at anything less than fifty or sixty bowls, right?

* * *

"Fool! What are you doing?" Jiraiya hissed, landing heavily beside Kakashi, who was lounging comfortably in the shade of a large oak tree.

Kakashi waved his prized _Icha Icha Paradise_ Volume One in the author's direction without averting his eyes from the smutty pages.

Despite himself, Jiraiya couldn't help but muse over his greatest achievement. "Ah, yes, Volume One. I remember it well. I especially like pages fifty to one hundred where..."

* * *

_An hour later_...

"That's where you get your inspiration?" Kakashi arched an eyebrow, interested.

"Oh, ho! Yes, that's where I get it! But with the kid distracting me with his need for training, I'm getting less time with the women!" Jiraiya sobbed. "As soon as I lose the kid, they're gone!"

"Ah. I see."

Jiraiya sniffled once before replacing his grief with frustration. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be somewhere?"

Kakashi re-read a sentence eagerly with a, "Mm... No?"

"Ooh, that's my favorite part! Give the book to me, Kakashi-san! I must revel in the superiority that is Volume One!"

* * *

In his usual slouch, Kakashi leisurely made his way towards the ramen stand where the competition had already started. In his hand, Volume Two was cracked open. He'd have to get the first book back from Jiraiya, who had stolen it and waved him off for some private reading.

With some annoyance, Kakashi realized that he would have some trouble getting through the crowd without using incredible jounin abilities. So, with a few hand signs, Kakashi poofed to the front of the crowd where Naruto and Sasuke were waiting impatiently.

"There he is!" Naruto bellowed with a scowl. "Where have you been, Kakashi-sensei? The crowd is getting angry 'cause you took your sweet time getting here! Believe it!"

"What do you mean? Why stall the competition for me?" Kakashi inquired, looking up from his book with surprise.

"Well, you're our sensei, aren't you? This is a competition of strength against two of your students! You have to be here to judge our skills correctly!"

Kakashi gave him a deadpanned look. Eating ramen was considered a competition of strength? He decided not to ask questions.

"Now, if only Iruka-sensei was here..."

"Relax, Naruto-kun! I'm here!" Iruka called, threading his way through the excited mass of shinobi and civilians. "Sorry, I got caught up grading papers. Did you already finish?"

"Nope! We had to wait for Kakashi-sensei before that could happen." Naruto brightened at the sight of his ex-sensei. "Glad you could make it, Iruka-sensei!"

"Oh, you know I wouldn't miss something like this for the world!" Iruka patted the blond-haired boy on his head affectionately.

Breaking the cheerful silence, Sasuke crossed his arms, staring coldly down at the counter. "I can't believe I agreed to this."

"_Whaaaat_? Afraid?" Naruto smirked wickedly at Sasuke, rubbing his hands together in his excitement. Without waiting for Sasuke to reply, he continued, "Oh, this is great! Every bowl of ramen we eat is free because they're being paid for with the admission fee for all of these people to watch! Believe it!"

"Oh, was that your idea, Naruto-kun?" Iruka beamed. "I'm proud that you didn't make poor Teuchi-san prepare ramen without pay."

"Erm... Actually, it wasn't my idea. It was Saku—"

Kakashi knocked Naruto off of his stool with a well-placed elbow and coughed. "It was mine."

Iruka looked surprised. "Really? How nice of you, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi's eye curled, ecstatic to have Iruka's smile directed at him. "Well, what can I say? I don't believe in stealing."

"I'm happy that you're passing those morals onto Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, and Sakura-chan."

Naruto glared at Kakashi and rose to his feet, whispering furiously, "That was Sakura-chan's idea! What are you trying to do?"

Kakashi waved his hand dismissively at Naruto, shaking his head.

With a grumble of defeat, Naruto climbed onto his seat and slammed his fists down on the counter. "We're ready to start!"

The noise behind them quieted down as everyone realized that something was about to happen.

Sakura burst out of the crowd, panting. "Sorry, Ino-pig and I got into an argument about what color Sasuke-kun would prefer his bride's wedding kimono to be. Can you _believe_ she thinks a cream-colored kimono with a lotus blossom design would look even remotely good next to Sasuke-kun's handsome black haori, montsuki kimono, and hakama?" She scoffed.

"Nice of you to join us, Sakura-chan! Are you ready to see me beat Sasuke-teme?" Naruto grinned, winking.

Sakura stuck her nose in the air, and, with an indignant sniff, she announced loudly, "Nobody beats Sasuke-kun at _anything_. Even something you do constantly, Naruto-san."

Crestfallen, Naruto turned his attention on the platter of bowls that had just arrived stacked high in Teuchi's daughter Ayame's grasp. He instantly brightened. "Ooh, so much ramen! I'll eat it all, believe it!"

"Don't get sick, Uzumaki-sama," Ayame cautioned warmly.

"Don't worry about me! You should really be worrying about Sasuke-teme!"

"The only thing anyone should be worrying about is the orange, boulder-shaped lump that is going to be destroying everything in his path after this contest is over," Sasuke snorted.

Ignoring him, Naruto picked up his chopsticks and poised them over his bowl. "Ready?"

Sasuke calmly broke apart his chopsticks and set them neatly on the counter next to his bowl.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the display, suspicious.

"Now, if you are both ready, let the ramen-eating competition begin!" the head chef exclaimed.

* * *

"How did this happen?" Iruka questioned weakly for the nth time. He wiped futilely at the ramen that covered him.

"I have no idea, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi lied. "I guess the counter was weak from all the bowls piled on top of it."

Iruka recalled the pure fear that had flashed through his eyes as sixty bowls of ramen had crashed down onto him, covering him with sticky, burning soup.

Even more frightening, Naruto took the liberty of cleaning some of it off. And whenever Naruto and ramen are placed too near each other, there is only one thing to do with it—eat it.

It had taken Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi to keep Naruto from eating him alive.

"I suppose so..." Iruka mumbled, picking at a noodle that refused to detach itself from his vest. "I don't really see why you're coming with me, though."

Kakashi paid the tickets for them to enter the hot springs. "Well, do you really want me to leave you like this alone? I thought I was here to help you relax. After all, what's wrong with a little company to talk away all your problems?"

Iruka nodded slowly. "I guess so."

Kakashi flashed him his trademark eye curl. "Glad to see you agree with me." Handing him his towel, Kakashi immediately began stripping down once they had entered one of the more private areas in the back.

Iruka averted his eyes quickly with a blush, reluctantly removing his own clothing.

Kakashi landed in the steaming water with a splash of liquid that nearly soaked the half-clothed Iruka. Kakashi settled down in the springs and grinned up at Iruka, his entire body up to his neck submerged.

Iruka smiled at Kakashi's childishness. "Cute."

Kakashi pouted, though the outline of his lips were faintly visible because his soaked mask was clinging to him like a second skin.

Motioning for Kakashi to turn around to give him some privacy, Iruka finished removing his stained clothing and gently lowered himself into the water, sighing happily. "I don't come here enough, that's for sure."

Kakashi turned back around and watched as Iruka untied his hitai-ate, setting it near his clothes. His eyes took in the strands of brown hair that were freed and falling nearly to the man's eyes.

Iruka noticed Kakashi's relentless stare and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "...What?"

"Aren't you going to let your hair down?"

Iruka shook his head. "I prefer it up. I don't like my hair to impede my vision, and it's annoying to have to brush it back all the time."

"Well, then, you leave me no choice..."

Iruka snapped to attention at the low tone, eyes wide. "W–What are you going to do?"

Kakashi slinked forward, sinking lower into the water until only his eye, gleaming mischievously, and his shock of silver hair were visible. Said eye was narrowed and set on Iruka's high ponytail.

Iruka yelped as the Copy-nin pounced on him. "K–Kakashi-sensei! W–What—?" He ducked to avoid a groping hand in his hair. He flailed spastically to the other side of the bath with Kakashi following closely. "S–Stay back! I'm warning you!"

"Come here, Iruka-sensei," Kakashi purred sweetly, pouncing again.

Iruka dived under the water and quickly propelled himself away.

Kakashi plunged his hand under the surface of the springs and grinned as his fingers closed around the hair tie. He yanked it out and watched with satisfaction as Iruka leaped up, gaping.

The Academy teacher struggled to gather up all of his wet hair at the back of his head but quickly gave up, dropping down to perch on an underwater rock, frowning. "That wasn't very nice, Kakashi-sensei." Under his breath, he muttered, "Hair-tie-stealer."

Kakashi leaned back and observed Iruka with a half-lidded eye. "Much better."

Iruka blushed and turned his face away to look outside a window at the sky that was painted with reds, yellows, and oranges from the sunset. He noted from the corner of his eye that Kakashi was digging in his vest for something. 'Probably that awful book,' Iruka thought dully. 'He's already bored of me.'

Instead, Kakashi tugged out a bottle of sake with a lazy smile. A quick glance at Iruka proved his suspicions.

"No," Iruka declared flatly. "Just... no."

"Aw, come now, Iruka-sensei!" Kakashi chirped. "Sake will do you some good. You need to relax more."

"That's not how I relax, thank you very much!" Iruka snapped, brushing his dark locks out of his face, glaring. "I don't drink!"

"Have you ever had any?"

Iruka grimaced. "Of course not. Why would I?"

"How cute," Kakashi leered.

"Put that away right now!" Iruka ordered.

"Or what?"

"I'll... I'll..." Iruka struggled for a threat. "I'll leave!" Inwardly, he smacked himself. 'Kakashi-sensei wouldn't care if I left!'

Kakashi froze. "You would?"

"Yes."

With a sigh, Kakashi tucked the bottle back into the depths of his vest and settled with watching Iruka closely.

Iruka was dumbfounded. His threat actually worked? Kakashi wanted him to stay?

"So, Iruka-sensei, tell me your hobbies."

* * *

"Well?" Jiraiya gushed, bouncing on his tree branch with excitement as a grinning Kakashi appeared next to him.

"Well, what?" Kakashi teased, fishing for his book.

"What happened?"

"Oh, you know. The usual."

"Let me guess!" Jiraiya's lips cracked into a perverted smile. "You spent time with people he trusted, made sure he enjoyed himself some, set off a trap for him that covered him with ramen, took him to the hot springs, and had dirty, passionate se—"

"Before you finish that sentence, I'll have to say 'no.'" Kakashi shook his head. "There was none of that involved. However, everything else went according to plan."

"_What?_ No sex?" Jiraiya growled. "That's the whole point of this entire plan!"

"He hasn't even drank in his entire life," Kakashi drawled, rolling his eyes.

Jiraiya frowned. "No? Well, that's different. We may be dealing with a very innocent school teacher here..." His eyes suddenly lit up. "Perfect! A blushing, innocent, pure school teacher!"

"Well, now I know who's going to be on the 'receiving end'."

"Hey, keep it down! These are secret thoughts of mine!"

"How far are you on that book anyways?"

"You should know by the amount of progress you've made with Iruka-sensei."

Kakashi sighed harshly. "Your writing completion depends entirely on what I do with him?"

"Yes, but this plot is going to be long and complicated with twists and a surprise ending! Just you watch!" Jiraiya cackled. "Oh, and conflicts! Nothing makes a story better than conflicts!"

"And smut," Kakashi added quietly.

"And smut," the Toad Sage agreed with a lecherous smile and wink.

* * *


	3. Mess of Missions! Sakura's Suspicions!

* * *

****

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

* * *

_Title_: Like the Plot of an Icha Icha Romance

_Summary_: Kakashi/Iruka. Fearing the consequences of becoming an inactive shinobi, Iruka decides to accept low-ranked missions. However, when Kakashi starts taking a special interest in him, he begins to worry. What he doesn't know, though, is that this prank is part of a big plan formed by the perverted author himself, Jiraiya. Yaoi. R&R!

_Author Notes_: I promise I won't abandon this story. I just need more time to sit down and type this story.

* * *

**Chapter III: Mess of Missions! Sakura's Suspicions!**

Iruka sighed and wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand before dusting his hands off on his clothing. "There you go, Uematsu-san."

"Hey, thanks! You got that done faster than I ever could!" A balding man exclaimed happily. "Then again, I'd never do something like this myself anyways..."

Iruka grimaced and stood shakily, surveying his work. "Well, your new sewer line has been installed now. I hope your toilets are working well again."

"Oh, yeah, yeah, they are. Thanks a lot!"

They stood in silence for a moment while Iruka arched an eyebrow, tapping his foot.

"What?"

"...Payment is not expected _right_ away, but if you'd like to give me the money right now—"

"I'll send it later." The man waved his hand dismissively.

"Right. Good day, Uematsu-san." With a grumble, Iruka left the man's yard.

* * *

"Umino-sensei! What wonderful work! I've never seen a man decorate a kitchen so beautifully!"

"Thank you very much, Tanaka-san." Iruka smiled.

"Oh, and before you go, Neko-Nyaa-Nyaa, my cat, needs her hair trimmed. Do you mind?"

A sigh. "No, I don't mind. Where is she?"

"Well, I'm not completely sure. She might be in the dryer again..."

Iruka's eyes widened comically. "The dryer?"

"Yeah, what's the problem?"

"I just put a load of clothes in—"

A faint yowl silenced them.

* * *

"Mmm, Umino-kun, what magical hands you have."

Iruka arched an eyebrow at the woman's moans of contentment. "...Thanks."

The woman threw her head back with a perfect expression of ecstasy. "R–Right there! Yes!"

Iruka ducked his head and blushed.

* * *

"On your knees, Iruka-kun."

"Excuse me, but I don't think this is really—"

The woman cracked her whip threateningly. "On your knees."

Iruka dropped to his knees and cringed at the tightening of black leather on his body.

"Now, who is your master?"

"Erm... I don't—"

"I said, 'Who is your master?'"

"Y–You are..."

"My name, Iruka-kun! My name!" She cracked her whip dangerously close to his left hand.

"I don't know your name!"

"It's me, you fool!" The woman ripped her mask off, revealing herself to be...

"A–_Anko-san?_"

* * *

Iruka dragged his feet as he collapsed against a tree near the outskirts of the village. He groaned and rubbed his backside, which was quite sore from Anko's activities. "Why me?" He cried into his hands. "All of my missions were so... unusual! So degrading!"

"Iruka-sensei! My, my, how strange seeing you here!"

Iruka snapped his gaze to the trees around him. "...Hello?"

"Up here!"

The school teacher raised his eyes to the canopies of the trees and was surprised to find Kakashi hanging upside down, waving wildly to him. "Oh. Hello, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi dropped to the ground in front of Iruka, crouching to his eye level. "How was your day?"

"Horrible."

Kakashi didn't bat an eye. "Really? Why is that?"

"Bad missions. It's no problem."

"I see."

"What are you doing here, Kakashi-sensei? It's very unusual for me to see you but every few days at a time."

"Well, you see, I was here doing some training with my team, but I seem to have lost them when I took a moment to read."

"They can't be that hard to find. Naruto-kun's pretty loud." A small smile adorned Iruka's tired features.

"Will you help me find them?"

"Kakashi-sensei, I'm sure you of all people can find three noisy genin."

"Nope." Kakashi gave him his signature eye curl. "I must be getting old."

"Even so, I'm much too tired to walk anymore. You don't know what I've gone through today."

"...Pwease?"

Iruka's eye twitched at the childish word. "Kakashi-sensei—"

"Excellent! Let's get moving! They could be anywhere!" Kakashi exclaimed, ripping Iruka to his feet before hopping up onto a tree branch.

With a miserable groan, Iruka followed.

* * *

"Man, I can't believe Kakashi-sensei ditched us again!" Naruto grumbled, flopping onto the ground, crossing his arms dejectedly.

"I know. How are we supposed to get any training in if he keeps disappearing?" Sakura agreed with a furrow of her eyebrows.

"We don't need him to train," Sasuke scoffed. "You two are just too lazy to get up and train yourselves without any actual command from the sensei." He landed a particularly rough kick to the side of a training post, a scowl pulling at his lips.

"Shut up, teme! I just don't know what to train! I want to learn something new!"

"You're not ready to learn anything new," Sasuke shot back, his next kick cracking the training post. "You need to master what you're already training for before you start anything new." He reared his fist back and landed a blow on the training post that shattered the wood as if it was glass. He turned away from his work to narrow his eyes at Naruto, who forced his mouth to close. "Get it?"

Naruto turned his head away and growled lowly. "Whatever!"

Sakura stared at Sasuke in adoration. "Y–You're _amazing_, Sasuke-kun!"

The cracking of an overhead tree branch silenced anything that would have been said next.

All three sets of eyes raised to the sky.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-sensei! I don't do this often," Iruka laughed nervously, hanging onto Kakashi's outstretched hand.

Kakashi smiled down at him with his signature eye curl. "No worries, Sensei. It was just a slight stumble."

"Hey! It's Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cheered. "And he brought Iruka-sensei!"

Sakura beamed at the sight of her ex-sensei. "Iruka-sensei! So good to see you again!"

Iruka dropped to the ground in front of them, blushing at his mistake. "Hello, Sakura-chan, Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun! How are things? Are you training hard?"

"Oh, oh, Iruka-sensei!" Sakura gushed, proud to be able to brag on Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun just smashed the training post to nothing! He's so strong!"

Sasuke, despite his expression of indifference, preened under the attention.

Naruto bit back his retort and focused his attention on Kakashi, who had just dropped down beside Iruka. "Kakashi-sensei, can you teach us something new?"

Kakashi leveled Naruto with a stare. "Did you perfect all the chakra exercises I gave you?"

The kyuubi container's face fell, and he glared at the ground. "No... Not yet..."

"Then get to it! Stop wasting time!"

Iruka watched as Naruto focused his chakra to the soles of his feet and quickly ran up the tree.

"Now stay in place and form the hand signs for that new technique Jiraiya-sensei taught you!" Kakashi called up to his student. "Maintain your chakra control and concentrate on forming the appropriate signs! Gather your chakra in the palm of your hand—"

Naruto's scream cut his teacher off as he plummeted to the ground.

Iruka couldn't help but chuckle at Naruto's crestfallen expression. "Don't worry, Naruto-kun. Keep trying, and you'll get it right soon enough. Just be confident."

"Got'cha, Iruka-sensei!"

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, I don't think I have time to stay here any longer. I have papers to grade and such. Plus, I haven't even done all of the missions that I have," Iruka said, his tone soft as he thought of the heavy scroll of missions back at his apartment. "I would love to stay here, but I'm afraid they are your students. You watch over their training."

Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "You should stay here. Naruto-kun seems to do better when you're here."

Iruka laughed. "Right. Sure he does. Naruto-kun will do his best when _anyone_ is watching. From what I've heard from them, you don't actually watch their progress," Iruka scolded with a smile. "You should read that book less, and focus more on improving your students."

The Copy-nin pouted, though it wasn't visible. "But if I don't read my book, I won't know what happens next. I don't have any time to read outside of their training. When I'm not here, I'm on a mission or sleeping," Kakashi explained. "Besides, once I've told them what to do, they must be on their own. Silent and concentrating on their task. I'm not going to hold their hands and walk them through it. It's all about learning to do things on your own, right?"

Iruka nodded. "I suppose you're right, Kakashi-sensei. Just... compliment them more. Tell them how well they're improving. Believe me, it really helps, especially with a student like Naruto-kun."

"If you say so, Iruka-sensei."

"Heeey! Look at me! I'm doing it! I'm doing it—_AAAAH! Watch out, temeee!_"

Iruka and Kakashi stared as Naruto landed on top of Sasuke, who had just flipped backwards in a kick.

Sakura gasped out in horror. "Naruto-san! How _dare_ you land on Sasuke-kun? You... You could have broke something of his!"

"'Broke something of his'?" Naruto groaned from the tangle of blue and orange limbs. "What about _me_?"

"G–_Get off me_!" Sasuke snarled, flinging Naruto off of his bruised body.

"What were you saying about confidence, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi inquired with a wink.

Iruka closed his gaping mouth and placed a hand to his forehead in exhaustion. "Oh, Naruto-kun..."

* * *

"You know, Iruka-sensei, you said you were going to leave hours ago," Kakashi reminded the Academy teacher with a prod of his toe.

Iruka, seated on the branch below Kakashi's, swiped at the offending foot. "Yeah, I know. I just couldn't help but stay and watch them. I get attached to all my students."

"Don't worry about them. You don't need to be there every moment to try to lend a hand. They're shinobi now. Not Academy children learning how to throw kunai."

"I know," Iruka sighed. "But it's just so hard to let go of them."

"Naruto-kun, you mean." Kakashi turned a page in his book.

Iruka blushed and craned his neck to give Kakashi a sour look. "Not just Naruto-kun!"

"He's the only student you really keep in contact with outside of the Academy."

"No, I—" Iruka paused. "...Fine. It's true."

"Why is that?"

"He's like me..." Iruka trailed off, watching as Naruto and Sasuke sparred.

Kakashi eyed the teacher over his book and said nothing.

"I just relate to him more. I know how he felt before he met you three." Iruka swallowed heavily. "Nobody should have go through what he had to go through."

Kakashi froze at Iruka's saddened expression.

Shaking his head, Iruka forced a smile onto his face. "It's not something I should think about anymore, though. Everything's changed for the better. Naruto-kun has great friends who care about him now; Sakura-chan, even if she says she despises him; Sasuke-kun, even if he insults Naruto-kun all the time; And you, Kakashi-sensei. I'm sure you're like a father he never had."

Kakashi lowered his book and locked his gaze with Iruka's. "And what about you?"

"...Me?"

"Yes, you." Kakashi smacked Iruka on the top of his head with the _Icha Icha_ book. "I'm sure there's no one he looks up to more than you."

Iruka shook his head and blushed. "Oh, I don't think that's true. I was just his Academy teacher."

"Oh, come now. Don't talk nonsense. You and I both know it's true. _You're_ the father to him."

Iruka turned his head away from Kakashi to observe the three training below them.

* * *

"What do you think they're talking about?" Sakura asked her two male counterparts quietly.

"Who knows?"

"Who cares?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "C'mon, haven't you two noticed how often Kakashi-sensei is seen around Iruka-sensei now?"

"So?"

"...Does it matter?"

"Yes, it matters! Kakashi-sensei hasn't even shown any interest in Iruka-sensei until just a few days ago!"

"Maybe he just felt a need to make some more friends." Sasuke shrugged. "He can't possibly have a lot, being as anti-social as he is."

"How would you know that?"

"It's obvious. Haven't you guys figured out why he's late everyday?"

Naruto blinked, ducking a sweeping kick from Sasuke.

"Wait, you know why he's actually late?" Sakura questioned, eyes wide. "Why? Tell us!"

"He visits the memorial stone every morning and stays there for hours."

"Why would he do that?"

"Don't you remember what he told us the day after we formed our team? He told us that the names of his closest friends were engraved on the memorial stone."

"Oh... Yeah, I remember..." Naruto frowned.

Sakura glanced up at Kakashi. "He doesn't have friends... because they're dead?"

"So he's trying to make a new friend?" Naruto grinned. "Iruka-sensei's the perfect choice for a friend! He's an Academy teacher! He doesn't do anything dangerous!"

"Baka, he still goes on missions." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Didn't you know? All shinobi must do missions, even if it's one every few months or so. It's a requirement."

"Well, he can't possibly do anything over a D-rank, right?"

"He might only do low-ranked missions. But who knows? The Hokage might need him for something more dangerous some time."

"Tsunade-baa-san wouldn't do that!" Naruto laughed. "She only sends jounin on _dangerous_ missions!"

"Naruto-san! Have you forgotten that we're low on shinobi at the moment? Iruka-sensei, being a chuunin, is very capable! He can do A-rank missions if he has to!"

"But... He's Iruka-sensei! I couldn't imagine him going against really dangerous shinobi."

"Are you implying he's weak?" Sasuke glared. "If he passed the chuunin test, he is anything but weak."

"I think he means that—if faced with anything dangerous—Iruka-sensei wouldn't have the heart to kill, which is what he'd have to do to stay alive," Sakura defended quickly.

"Y–Yeah, that's it! _Believe it_!"

"Well, I hope they become friends. Kakashi-sensei needs one."

* * *

­


End file.
